Studies in the News: Children and Family Supplement is a service provided to the First 5 California by the California State Library. The service features weekly lists of current articles focusing on Children and Family policy. Prior lists can be viewed from the California State Library's Web site at www.library.ca.gov/CRB/SITN/.

How to Obtain Materials Listed in SITN:

When available on the Internet, the URL for the full-text of each item is provided.

California State Employees may contact the State Information & Reference Center (916-654-0206; cslsirc@library.ca.gov) with the SITN issue number and the item number [S#].

All other interested individuals should contact their local library - the items may be available there, or may be borrowed by your local library on your behalf.

["The Urban Institute says that during the recent 'sluggish' economic recovery, employment rates have risen only slightly in recent months. As a result, full-time employment rates and earnings are still low and poverty has actually risen among households with children -- particularly those headed by single parents." Connect for Kids Weekly (May 23, 2005).]

Prekindergarteners Left Behind: Expulsion Rates in State Prekindergarten Systems. By Walter S. Gilliam, Yale University Child Study Center. (Foundation for Child Development, New York, New York) May 17, 2005.

["This study found that although rates of expulsion vary widely among the 40 states funding prekindergarten, state expulsion rates for prekindergartners exceed those in K-12 classes in all but three states. Prekindergarten expulsion rates vary by classroom setting. Expulsion rates are lowest in classrooms located in public schools and Head Start, and highest in faith-affiliated centers, for-profit childcare and other community-based settings. The study found that four-year-olds were expelled at a rate about 1.5 times greater than three-year-olds. Boys were expelled at a rate over 4.5 times that of girls. African-Americans attending state-funded prekindergarten were about twice as likely to be expelled as Latino and Caucasian children, and over five times as likely to be expelled as Asian-American children. The likelihood of expulsion decreases significantly with access to classroom-based behavioral consultants that provide teachers with assistance in behavior management." NAEYC Children's Champions Update (May 17, 2005).]

["The study, which offers a harsh critique of some current plans to launch 'universal' preschool programs, targets the universal-preschool ballot initiative in June 2006 in California ... because it would require teachers to earn a bachelor?s. The Berkeley-Stanford researchers say such a standard is 'very expensive and yields no consistent improvement for young children when compared to those kids whose teachers have two-year degrees and training in child development.' The researchers also recommend that state policymakers base public preschool programs in both schools and community-based centers, and they argue that there is no proof that children learn more in school-based programs than they do in other settings. Instead of opening programs to all children, regardless of family income, states should use their limited funds to serve lower-middle-class families that don?t qualify for subsidies but can?t afford private programs either, the authors say." Education Week (May 11, 2005).]

["One group of people may be missing out on Pre-K?s economic impact ? early educators themselves. A new study finds that one-fifth of public pre-K teachers are working second jobs to pay their bills. In fact, most of them ? 71 percent ? earn salaries that put them in the low-income category according to federal poverty guidelines. The study also finds that in nine states, more than 10 percent of the pre-kindergarten classrooms are led by teachers who are out of compliance with state credential requirements." Connect for Kids (May 16, 2005) online.]

["Parental care for very young children has been linked to improved brain development, social development, and overall well-being. But most American parents are left out in the cold when it comes to paid family leave. Low-income families are often without any sort of paid leave at all, maternal or otherwise. This study finds that no state gives all new parents both guaranteed job protection and benefits. California, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, and Oregon offer some support to families; nineteen states received failing grades for not providing a single benefit or program to help support families before and after the birth of a child." Connect for Kids Weekly (May 9, 2005).]

["Results of the survey demonstrated that although the majority of children with special health care needs have adequate health insurance, additional work is needed to improve the adequacy of insurance, particularly for children below the poverty line, Hispanic children, and children with the most limited functional ability. The survey results also demonstrated the importance of continuous and adequate health insurance, because children who met the health insurance core outcome had fewer unmet needs."]

["This report says that only about half of parents of young children surveyed report ever discussing their child's development with a pediatrician. To improve the quality of early childhood health care, the authors recommend national standards, enhanced reimbursement, improved provider training, and a strategy of raising parents' expectations of pediatric care." Moving Ideas (May 10, 2005).]

["The First 5 Commission of Orange County has approached the UCLA Center to help it develop, design, and begin implementing a new system of developmental services....This study has identified gaps in existing services, barriers to service utilization, and systems issues preventing optimal service delivery."]

["The article describes the sociodemographic factors, vaccine beliefs, and behaviors associated with a parent's opposition to compulsory vaccination. The authors also discuss the association between the availability of a philosophical exemption in a parent's state of residence and parental objection to compulsory vaccination.... The authors conclude that 'effective risk communication between providers and parents, as well as provision of basic vaccine information to parents regarding (1) the diseases vaccines prevent, (2) what could happen if their children are not vaccinated, (3) how vaccines work, and (4) the concept of herd immunity, are important first steps in building a better understanding of the importance of routine childhood vaccinations.'" MCH Alert (May 13, 2005).]

["Disparities between Latinos and the non-Hispanic white population are seen in every measure of health insurance status. Overall, a lower percentage of Latinos than whites have some form of insurance. In California, 24 percent of all Latino children, whether they are first-, second or third-generation, are uninsured. Focusing on children of Mexican-American descent, data from the 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) show patterns of health insurance and access for first- to third-generation children."]

["California's subsidized child care system is complex and is delivered through an array of programs. Hundreds of thousands of children receive subsidized child care through both CalWORKs and non CalWORKs child care development programs.... However, the state had not increased the income eligibility limit for subsidized child care in 2003.... The Governor's proposals to impose a time limit on CalWORKs State 3 child care, change the income eligibility measure for subsidized child care, and substantially reduce reimburstment rates for license-exempt child care providers could negatively affect California families' ability to obtain appropriate subsidized child care and development services."]

["In an expansion of earlier MDRC analyses of 13 welfare and work policies, this article concludes that earnings supplements that increase family income play a key role in improving children's school achievement. However, the effects for children begin to fade after earnings supplements end." Moving Ideas (April 29, 2005).]

["The federal government offers a wide array of nutrition assistance programs to help low-income families with children meet their food needs. Nonetheless, official statistics indicate that nearly one in five children in the United States lived in a food-insecure household in 2002.... This brief examines the potential for existing programs to cast a broader and tighter safety net and improve food security among children. It begins with an overview of the nutrition safety net, focusing on the largest federal programs (food stamps; School Lunch and Breakfast; and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC) and private food assistance programs. The brief presents data from the 2002 National Survey of America?s Families to show how many low-income children actually receive benefits from current programs. The concluding section discusses the implications of current participation patterns for efforts to end hunger among children."]

["A child whose grandmother smoked during pregnancy may have almost twice the risk of developing asthma as one whose grandmother did not smoke -- even if the child's mother was a nonsmoker, this study has found. The study is the first to show that smoking in pregnancy can harm not only a woman's children, but her grandchildren as well." New York Times (April 12, 2005).]

"The Culture of a Home Visit in Early Intervention." By Kent Brorson, University of Minnesota-Duluth. IN: Journal of Early Childhood Research, vol. 3, no. 1 (2005) pp. 51-76.

["This article uses data from an ethnographic study that examined the delivery of home-based services in early intervention. Participants were families with an infant or toddler with special needs, and professionals providing early intervention services to these and other families. The data revealed that effectiveness of service delivery is dependent upon professionals creating a cultural environment that is similar in all homes during home visits. The discussion addresses the difficulty in defining and then implementing a family-centered service delivery model that takes individual differences into account."]